Philippines confident about hitting growth target

MANILA--The Philippines remains confident that it will achieve its 5%-to-6% growth target for this year despite the damage caused by the recent southwest monsoon on agriculture, a government official said Sunday, according to China's state news agency Xinhua.

Xinhua quoted spokeswoman Abigail Valte as saying: "The Department of Agriculture continues to make an assessment of the damage sustained but the Philippines remains confident that it will be able to reach its targets."

She said that the Department of Agriculture "has taken steps to extend assistance to farmers affected by the monsoon."

The country's Office of the Civil Defense reportedly said that the damage caused by the southwest monsoon on the agriculture sector in Central Luzon had surpassed 1.09 billion pesos ($26 million), with the fisheries sector incurring the biggest loss, Xinhua reported.

The farm sector accounts for about one fifth of the Philippine economy.

Official statistics showed that 85 people were killed and about three million were displaced following the monsoon rains that inundated northern and central Philippines in the past few days.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.